654: hark, hearken, and hear Sep 22, 2016

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The words 'hark' and 'hearken' may now seem old and outdated, which is only reinforced by where they may appear most often. In Shakespeare's, The Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio in Act 1, scene 1 says, "Hark, Tranio! Thou may’st hear Minerva speak" and later on, one of the five occasions here in which Gremio says 'hark' is in the line, "Hark, hark! I hear the minstrels play". Not all the lines that contain 'hark' also contain 'hear', but these two do, and that isn't really an accident. The verb 'hearken', sometimes spelt, 'harken' comes from the Old English 'heorcnian' and is likely related to 'hark'. Although 'hear' comes fro, the Old English 'hīeran', and is therefore not related etymologically, the EA in 'hearken' was added in the 16th century to make clearer association. Despite any differences in spelling or pronunciation the connotation has always meant 'listen'.

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